Remember: Why Halloween Begins With the Saints

The doorbell rings. On the porch stand a three-foot ghost, a pint-sized pirate, and a princess gripping a pillowcase. They shout the magic words, I drop in the candy, and they race off into the dark. It’s a lovely scene, and I enjoy it every year. But not one of them knows what they are celebrating. Neither do most of their parents.

The word Halloween is a contraction. It comes from All Hallows’ Eve, and “hallow” means holy (Merriam-Webster, 2026). The night we treat as a costume party was named for the evening before a feast honoring the saints of God. Underneath the plastic fangs and behind the masks sits a memorial. Somewhere along the way, the porch light stayed on but the real story went dark.